STEFON HARRIS TOURS ELLINGTON JAZZ
SUITES

Staff Report

NEW YORK, 15 October 2006â€”Vibraphonist, marimba player, and composer Stefon Harris leads
a nine-piece ensemble in a performance of suites by Duke
Ellington as well as Harrisâ€™ own original jazz suites in a three-city
tour that kicks off on Wednesday evening at Carnegie Hall.

Born in Albany, New York in 1973, Harris began playing piano at the age
of six. By the eighth grade, he had expanded his proficiency to nearly
twenty instruments. A graduate of The Manhattan School of Music, he
received a B.A. in Classical Music and an M.A. in jazz performance. Harris
is a recipient of the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center and a
recipient of three Grammy nominations (for Black Action Figure,
Kindred, and 2003â€™s 12-piece concert-length jazz suite The Grand
Unification Theory). Along with tours of South Africa, Brazil and
Europe performing at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Istanbul Jazz Festival
and the Umbria Jazz
Festival, Harris' resume includes recording and touring gigs with the
Max Roach Joe Henderson, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Hunter, Kenny Barron and
Cassandra Wilson..